Apparatus for charging or discharging cyanid-vats, &amp;c.



No. 687,920. Patented Dec. 3, I90I.

A. D. JANSEN. APPARATUS F03 CHARGING 0R DISCHARGING GIANID VATS, 8m.

Application mea July 5, 1 899.)

l f W THE Nonms Psfsns no Hom LITHo WASHINGTON D c a., E C H I@ JVE'Patented Dc. 3, IQOI.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

INVENTOH A TTOHNEYS YN QM A. D. JANSEN.

APPARATUS FOR GHARGING 0R DISCHARGING CYANID VATS, &0. l`hllppliczantion filed July 5, 1899.) v(No Model.)

Niv w No. 687,920. Patented-nec. 3, v190|. A. n. JANSEN.

APPARATUS FOR CHARGING 0R DISCHAARGING CYANID VATS, 8m, l

(Application led July 5, 1899.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Patented Dec. 3, |90I.

4 Sheets-Sheet ,6I

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A. n. JANSEN. APPARATUS Fon cHAnem onmscnAnama cvAnm vATs, ac.

(Application led July 5, 1899.)

(I0 Nudel.)

UNITED STATES PATENT CEETCE.

ALEXANDER DUNCAN JANSEN, OF JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.

APPARATUS FOR CHARGING 0R DISCHARGING CYAN|D-VATS, &c.

SPECIFICATION forming* part of Letters Patent NO. 687,920, datedDecember 3, 1901.

Application filed Tuly 5, 1899. Serial No. 722,873. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER DUNCAN JANSEN, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain and Ireland, and a resident in Royal Chambers, Simmondsstreet, Johannesburg,

in the South African Republic, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in and relating to apparatus for charging or discharging,particularly adapted for use in connection with the discharging, rbc.,of cyanid-vats and the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in connection with charging wasteproducts, and

is particularly designed with the object of doing away wit-h manuallabor in the process thereof.

The invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with thedischarging of cyanid-tanks employed in the process of extraction ofprecious metals from reduced ores.

The reduced ore or sands7 after having been treated with cyanid solutionhave to be discharged either from one tank to a second or from thesecond tank to the dumping-site,

whereby a great amount of manual laboris involved, owing to the factthat it is neces sary to handle the tailings or sands twice.

By this invention the uppermost tank (or that one in which the firsttreatment is carried out) is automatically emptied into a second tankwhich is placed beneath it. From this second tank the tailings or sandsare discharged onto a conveyer, as hereinafter de` scribed, whichdeposits the tailings to be discharged into a sump. From this sump thetailings are withdrawn and transported to the dumping-site by means ofan improved conveyer, for which application for a patent has been lodgedat the same time with this present application.

My invention will be fully described on referring to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l shows a general view of the arrangement ofmy apparatus in relation to two cyanid-tanks, one being placed above theother in the ordinary manner. Fig. 2 shows a plan View of rotatingscraping-arms and doors at the bottom of the tank; Fig. 3, a detailsectional view of scraping-arm Fig. 4, a

shown, A is a central vertical rotary shaft formed at its upper end witha collar or block A', rigidly secured thereto.

B is a bearing-block bored so that the central shaft A may easily passthrough it and machined ou its upper surface to form a race for theballs or rollers B', which are interposed between the collar A and thebearingblock B and are free to revolve thereupon independently. The`bearing-block B is provided with projections or wings B2, which projectthrough longitudinal slots cut in the vertical fixed framework C, sothat the said block B slides vertically in the guides thus formed in thevertical framework C. The central rotatory shaft A whileV revolving maybe raised or lowered by this means at will. This raising or lowering ofthe bearingblock B is automatically accomplished by means of an outerhollow rotatory shaft D of an inside diameter sufficient to containwithin it all the previously-described mechanism, the said hollow shaftD being Acut on its inside surface with a screw-thread which engages acorresponding male screw-thread cut upon the outer surfaces of theprojections B2, which project beyond or outside the fixed verticalframework C. The outer hollow shaft D is furnished at its lower end witha spur-wheel D', which is rigidly secured there-V to and stidened bymeans of the brackets, as shown. The said spur-wheel DQ with outerhollow shaft D attached, is supported by means of the roller or ballbearings D?, the lower races of which are formed in the fixed frameworkC", to which the vertical upright framework C, already mentioned, isfirmly secured. The said vertical fixedframework C is of tubularconstruction, provided with vertical slots through which the wings B2,attached to the bearing-block B, project.

At the bottom of the central rotatory shaft A a set of scraping-arms E Eare attached of a radius slightly less than the radius of the tank inwhich they are intended to revolve. Motion is imparted to the hollowshaft D by means of a pinion F, which gears with the teeth on thespur-wheel D4. This action causes the central rotatory shaft A, withscraping-arms E attached, to rise or fall according to the direction inwhich the pinion F is driven owing to the screwthreads on theprojections B2 gearing with the internal screw-thread of the hollowshaft D. The central shaft A, with arms E attached, is alsosimultaneously caused to revolve by the same pinion F driving a lowerspur-wheel G, which is supported from the fixed framework C' by means ofthe ball-bearings The fixed framework C is constructed with a projectingpiece C2, which is recessed so as to form the lower seating for theballs G. Corresponding projecting pieces G2 are bolted to the spur-wheelG, forming the upper bearingsurface for the balls G'. The shaft A isprovided with longitudinal projections A2, and the central boss of thespur-wheel G is machined with corresponding longitudinal recesses. Bythis construction the rotatory motion of the spur-wheel G iscommunicated to the central shaft A without interfering with itsupward-and-downward motion, thus allowing it to rise or fall accordingto the impulse of the hollow shaft I) with the screw-thread on its innersurface actuating the bearingblock B.

With reference to the upper tank, H is a center fixed tube rigidlysecured at its base to the bottom of the upper tank, the internaldiameter of the said tube H being such as to receive the hollow shaft Dof the lower tank and the whole of the mechanism inside D when it is atits highest, the object of this construction being to avoid thenecessity of increasing the distance between the two tanks, which wouldbe necessary if the same arrangement as described in Fig. 4 were adaptedto the upper tank.

To the top of the fixed tube H. a circular casting H is rigidly secured,to which casting H a further tube H2, of larger diameter than the innertube H, is firmly keyed. To the bottom of tube H2 is firmly secured acircular casting H2, which is machined on its upper side to form racesfor the balls H4.

J is a spur-wheel provided with races on its lower side to rest upon theballs H4 H4, aforementioned. J is an outer tube or hollow shaft securedat its lower end to the spurwheel J, so that the two revolve together,the hollow shaft J being cut with an internal screw-thread, as shown.The fixed tube or framework H2 is forlned with longitudinal slots 7s,through which the win gs or projections K', rigidlysecured to the upperend of another tube K2, project, the outer surfaces of the said wings Kbeing cut with a male screwthread to correspond with and be engaged bythe internal screw-thread of the hollow shaft J The tube K, which passesdownward easily in the space between the fixed framework formed by thetwo fixed tubes H and H2, terminates at its base in the boss K2, whichboss K3 is machined to receive the ball-bearings K4.

L L' L are revolving scraping-arms secured to the hub or boss L, whichis machined, as shown, to form corresponding races for the balls K4, sothat the arms L rotate about the boss K2.

L2 L2 L2 are rods secured at their lower ends to the revolving arms L',passing upward through vertical slots or bushes L2, formed in thespur-wheel J, so that while the rods L2 L2 L2 are free to rise or fallthrough the said bushes L3 L3 L3 yet the motion of the spur-wheel J asit revolves is transmitted, by means of the rods L2, to the revolvingarms L4. Motion is imparted to the spur-wheel J by means of the pinionJ2, which is driven from any convenient motive source. The rods L2 arepreferably connected at their upper ends to an annular framework L4 inorder to stiffen them.

A4 is a central tie-rod passing through the center line of thedischarging apparatus of both tanks, being secured at the lower end tothe bottom tank and at the upper end to the circular casting H', theobject being to provide a central guide for the shaft A in its verticalmotion.

K2 is a light iron cylinder attached to the outer edge of the circularcasting H and inclosing the whole of the mechanism of the top tank inorder to prevent the dust and rain from entering.

V is the flexible pipe which conducts the sands about to be treated intothe upper tank.

The construction of the scraping-arms is shown in cross-section in Fig.3, from which it will be seen that each arm is composed of an ordinaryrail E', with front and back plates E2, bolted thereto, the front orscraping plate E2 being formed with a cutting edge e, as shown. Thecutting edge is of course operative only when the arms are workingin adownward direction into the tank, the dischargedoors at the bottom beingopen-'z'. e., when the discharging apparatus is at work. On the 4returnjourney-t'. c., when the tank is being filled with tailings for the nexttreatment--` the revolving arms answer another purpose-- viz., that ofleveling the sands in the tank.

The revolving arms of the lower tank may also, if desired, be utilizedas distributers of the cyanid solution when they are working upward inthe tank and leveling the sands which are about to be treated by meansof the following construction: On referring to Fig. 3 it will be noticedthat the construction of the arms is such as to provide a channel. Byboring holes E4 at intervals it is obvious that if cyanid solution beintroduced into the aforementioned channels it will flow along the armsand pass through the holes E4 E4. At the bottom of the rotatory shaft Aan annu-l lar trough E5 is fixed, from which pipes E6 are IIO led intothe channel aforementioned formed by the upper portion of thescraping-arms E. The cyanid solution is led along the fixed pipe E' intothe fixed annular trough E8, which is 5fprovided with apertures at itsbottom close to the rotatory shaft A, the number of the said aperturesbeing regulated according to the flow required. The solution falls fromthe trough E8 around the shaft A into the trough E5, whence it isdistributed through the pipes E6 into the revolving arms. The revolvingarms of the upper tank may also, if desired, while stationary beutilized as distributers of the cyanid solution after the top tank hasbeen filled with the sands requiring treatment. The cyanid solution isled along the fixed pipe T and falls into the box T' and thence into thearms L' L' L' and through the apertures therein onto the sands.

The operation of the part of my invention just described is as follows:Motion having been imparted to the pinion J2 is communicated to thehollow shaft J', owing to J' being attached to the spur-wheel J, therebycausing the projecting wing K' and with it the tube K, with the rotatoryarms L' L' L', attached, to rise or fall, according to the direction inwhich the apparatus is driven. At the same time the spur-wheel Jrotating carries the rods L21.2 L2around with it, and these rodscommunicate this rotatory motion to the arms L' L' L'.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. In combination with a cyanid or like tank, a vertical rotary shaft,scraper-arms carried thereby, an outer hollow rotary shaft having aninterior screw-thread, and a block or nut carried by the inner shaft andthreaded to engage the threads of the outer shaft, said shaft being freeto rotate within said nut but being prevented from longitudinal movementthrough the same, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a series of two tanks placed one above the other,a vertical rotary shaft centrally of the lower tank, scrapingarmscarried thereby, a threaded bearingblock at the upper end of said shaft,in which block said shaft is permitted to rotate while being heldagainst longitudinal movement therethrough, an outer hollow shaft havinginterior screw-threads engaging said bearingblock, and means for drivingsaid inner and outer shafts substantially as described.

3. In combination, a pair of tanks placed one above the other, avertical rotary shaft A centrally of said tanks, scraping-arms carriedthereby within the lower tank, a threaded bearing-block at the upper endof said shaft, in which block said shaft is permitted to rotate whilebeing held against longitudinal movement therethrough, an outer hollowshaft having interior screw-threads engaging the bearing block, meansfor operating said shafts, a vertical tubular framework encircling theupper portions of said outer shaft and a tubular shaft K encircling saidframework and having threaded projections, a tubular shaft J' encirclingsaid shaft K, the projections carried by said tube or shaft K havingthreads engaging corresponding threads in shaft J', means for rotatingthe shaft J', a boss K3 on said shaft K within the upper tank, a hub Lrotatably mounted thereon carrying scraping-arms, and means for rotatingsaid hub, substantially as described.

4. In combination, the pair of tanks situated one above the other,stirring mechanism for said upper tank, having a hollow supporting oroperating mechanism, and stirring mechanism in said lower tank havingits operating mechanism in line with the hollow mechanism of the uppertank and means for raising said operatin g mechanism of the lower tankinto said hollow mechanism of the upper tank, substantially asdescribed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

ALEXANDER DUNCAN JANSEN.

Witnesses:

ADDIE C. GLEAsoN, LOUISE J. HoAc.

